The crypto market may be approaching a pivotal turning point. While price action often lags behind key structural developments, the gap between fundamentals and market valuation is narrowing — and the spotlight is shining on Solana (SOL). According to recent commentary, Solana could serve as a bellwether for whether prices are about to realign with underlying network strength. Macro pressures & divergence At the macro level, institutional demand is visibly cooling. For example, MicroStrategy subsidiary Strategy (ticker: MSTR) completed 21 bitcoin purchases in Q2–Q3, contributing to a 36 % rally in BTC. But in Q4, the company’s stock plunged nearly 50 %, signaling that institutional capital into Bitcoin (BTC) is losing momentum. Solana hasn’t escaped the broader weakness: SOL dropped roughly 40% in the latest quarter — roughly double BTC’s decline. Yet the divergence arises here: on‑chain activity in the Solana ecosystem is heating up even as price lags....